Sea-Air-Space 2024, STEM, Middle East, Ukraine, Chinese Shipbuilding Policies

Hello all and welcome back after a brief hiatus following a very successful Sea Air Space expo! From the STEM event on Sunday to the final lunch on Wednesday, this was the biggest, most widely attended, and most spectacular Sea Air Space ever! And from a Legislative Affairs standpoint, this expo was truly unprecedented as we had six Members of Congress participate in our panel discussions and nearly 100 Congressional staffers attend the expo.

Well, this week was truly momentous for so many reasons. Let’s begin with the conflict in the Middle East which bookended the entire week. It began with a massive Iranian bombardment of Israel following the Israeli strike on an Iranian embassy in Damascus which killed multiple high-ranking Iranian officials. In response to the strike in Damascus, Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. The direct attack on Israel was historic, as Iran has always relied on proxies to harass Israel. Despite the massive and unprecedented scale of the attack, the strike seemed to be telegraphed well in advance allowing Israeli, American, British, and Jordanian air defenses to shoot down nearly every projectile launched by Iran. The Iranians surely knew this would occur and so it seemed that their intent was a show of force more than an attempt to actually strike targets in Israel. All eyes then turned to Israel which vowed a response of its own. The world held its breath as the possibility of a full-scale war in the Middle East became increasingly real. However, it seems that diplomatic efforts to contain such a war may have prevailed as this morning a muted Israeli response occurred in the form of relatively minor attack on the Iranian city of Isfahan. Iran has already downplayed the attack and even referred to those that carried out the attack as “infiltrators” rather than accusing Israel directly. It is unknown if this will be the one and only retaliatory strike that Israel launches against Iran, but at the moment it would seem that a devastating war has been averted for the time being.

In Washington, the House impeachment effort against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas went out with a whimper rather than a bang. Upon reaching the Senate, the charges were dismissed with votes falling along party lines. The charges of failing to enforce immigration laws and breach of the public trust had been seen by many as failing to meet the Constitutional standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. Even some within the GOP voiced concerns that this would lead to a new normal of impeaching any administration official when the opposing party did not like how they were doing their job. However, with the dismissal it is Senate Democrats who may have set the precedent by refusing to try an individual impeached by the House. All in all, it is just another example of how the intended processes of government are increasingly being warped by the hyper-partisan battles of our current era.

There is some good news from Congress this week. The House Rules Committee has set up a vote on four bills which would fund foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel, additional monies for Indo-Pacific operations in deterrence of China, and a fourth bill with various additional provisions from sanctions on Iran to seizure of Russian assets. The advancement of these bills is a great relief to all those who are concerned about our allies and their ability to defend themselves, but some on the GOP’s right flank are not thrilled at all. A second Republican joined Marjorie Taylor Greene in her effort to oust Speaker Johnson as a result of his support for these bills and his cooperation with Democrats on previous spending bills.

In trade news, the Office of the United States Trade Representative has agreed to launch an investigation into Chinese policies related to shipbuilding as a result of a petition submitted by several American unions including the United Steelworkers. The petition alleges that Chinese practices have run contrary to trade laws and have given China an unfair advantage in shipbuilding. The investigation could result in increased tariffs or other remedies to address China’s policies.